Fitting tribute to organiser Tim

JUBILATION- England skipper Adam Benjamin celebrates taking a wicket with teammates PLAYERS, officials and sponsors paid tribute to Reading and England player Tim Guttridge following a successful four-match series between the blind cricket teams of England and Pakistan at Bradfield College.

Pakistan won three and lost the other of the one-day games but the biggest cheers at the presentation ceremony went to Guttridge.

No one was left in any doubt that had it not been for him, the whole event would not have taken place.

Because of the conflict between Pakistan and India earlier this year, the tournament planned for June had to be cancelled and it looked for a time that it would not be held this year.

But Guttridge, who is also the British Blind Sport's international secretary, was keen for the games to be re-arranged and set to work.

He arranged for Bradfield College to host all four games - Southampton's Rose Bowl, Hove and Eton were on the original list - and Pakistan agreed to come over.

But they run into trouble when the British immigration office rejected a number of visas.

Guttridge got to work with the help of his local MP, Martin Salter, and, although they met with some joy, Pakistan were only permitted to bring in ten players and two officials, one of whom had to play.

Of the ten, however, seven were totally blind players. Most teams play with only four.

Yet despite that extra handicap, the tourists, as well as England for that matter, produced some amazing performances with all four games producing big scores and some fielding of the highest order.

Pakistan won the opening match by seven wickets

and England the second by five wickets with Pakistan regaining the lead on Thursday when they passed England's 272-7 for the loss of just two wickets.

The most entertaining of the four matches was Friday's with England, captained by Adam Benjamin, rattling up a massive 364-3 with opener Guttridge contributing 85 of them before losing his wicket just before the end of the innings.

But Pakistan showed why they are arguably the best side in blind cricket by reaching their target off the last ball of the penultimate over with five wickets down.

There was no doubt as to who was the man of the series - after Guttridge that is - as Pakistan's partially-sighted opener Ashraf Bhatti recorded scores of 171, 150 and 157.

His only low score, 30, came last Tuesday when Pakistan lost the game.

England's best player during the week was allrounder Heindrich Swanepoel.

Pakistan, captained by Abdul Rissaq, were presented with a special trophy - the Umer Rashid Memorial Trophy.

Rashid was the 26-year-old Sussex allrounder who, along with his brother Burham, was drowned in an accident while on a pre-season tour in Grenada last April.

Parents, Mirza and Sebea Rashid, along with other members of the family and friends from Sussex cricket club, attended the presentation ceremony on Friday night.

In a moving speech, Mr Rashid paid tribute to Guttridge, as did other guests, including Abdul Hader Jaffer, the High Commissioner for Pakistan, ECB and Sport England representative Roger Fuggle, and Martin Salter.

No wonder Guttridge had to concede: "This was one of the biggest things I have ever put together and I am proud of it.

"But I could not have done it without the considerable help of a lot of people, including Bradfield College, and all the sponsors.

The tournament was supported and sponsored by the ECB and Sport England, along with npower, Brian Johnston Memorial Trust, Sylvia Adams Trust, Lloyds TSB, vodaphone and the Raj Indian restaurant in Reading.